Buffalo Tom

Buffalo Tom

Score

Three Easy Pieces

Given the groundswell of indie rock reunions these last few years, it’s been disheartening not to hear another name among the

likes of Dinosaur Jr and Pixies; that of blue-collar indie punks Buffalo Tom. That’s because the Boston band never really split up in the first place. Mainman Bill Janovitz just preferred to concentrate on his day job in, um, real estate (and writing nearly all of the reviews on Allmusic.com in his spare time). Now, finally, here they are with their seventh album. It’s far from their best work (seek out 2000’s ‘Asides’ collection for a synopsis of reasons why they’re a band that can move plaid-clad men of all ages to tears), yet from the fuzzy lollop of the title track to the reverb-drenched ‘Pendleton’, it reaffirms that not only are Buffalo Tom one of America’s great lost bands, but that real estate’s loss is rock’n’roll’s gain.